The Town of Greenburgh has expanded our Holocaust Living History interviews and is now producing and airing interviews with Greenburgh residents who had been impacted by the Holocaust- children and family members of Holocaust survivors. These stories are painful. We want to make sure that these memories of the horrors of the Holocaust do not die along with those who perished. We are grateful to children of survivors for telling their family stories.
I asked Rabbi Mara Young of Woodlands Community Temple to host a new series about the Holocaust. This is her first interview with Melanie Roher Schwartz who tells the story of her mother-in-law.
It’s our hope that the stories of the Holocaust will prevent a repetition of what happened. We must fight Holocaust denial – any attempt to negate the established facts of the Nazi genocide of European Jews.
The town will air all the interviews of both Holocaust survivors and the children of Holocaust survivors on local public access TV every Yom HaShoah and on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. If you have a family story you’d like to tell please e mail me at pfeiner@greenburghny.com and we will put you on the growing list of future guests.
Click HERE to view the Interview with Melanie Roher Schwartz With Rabbi Mara Young
Our Holocaust Living History initiative is one of many examples of Greenburgh’s efforts to preserve local history. Among other initiatives:
*Our efforts to restore the historic Odell House on Ridge Road –creating a museum. The Odell House played an important role in helping the George Washington win the Revolutionary War.
*Our Black History Museum initiative –last weekend the Greenburgh Library featured an impressive exhibit highlighting well known African leaders (like Cab Calloway, Gordon Parks, Roy Campanella, Vernon Jordan and others) who lived in Greenburgh. We also have created an African American diaspora stories blog.
* Our World War II and Korean conflict Living history interviews – about 150 individual half hour interviews of survivors of World War II.
* Living history interviews with local residents whose lives were impacted by 9-11.
* The Greenburgh Historic Landmark Preservation Board which aids the town in making decisions regarding historic areas and landmarks.
* Our town historians -Riley Wentzler and Felicia Barber. They post frequent stories on the Greenburgh town website about local history.
